They
by A Grub
Summary: Vesperia/? crossover. First chapter of a series. After the discovery of a new blastia, Rita Mordio and 12 Forlorn Halberd guild members are sent to explore the ruins the blastia was discovered in. Things go well, until THEY are awakened.
1. Chapter 1

The Discovery

Aspio: 12:27 P.M.

The messenger walked across the circular platform to the beginning of small descent, and stopped. At the bottom of the hill was a small shack that almost looked like a large outhouse, the wood of the shack was rotting, and a small window on the door was shattered. In general the house was a wreck, and under no circumstances would anyone new to Aspio think that the 13-year-old genius mage Rita Mordio lived there.

Taking a deep breath, the messenger descended down the rocky trail, careful to stay away from the edge, and went to the shacks door. Knocking on the door, he said "E-excuse me m-miss Mordio?" when there was no answer, he tried to knock on the door again, but it swung open.

Standing at the door was Rita Mordio, dressed in the standard mage robes of a red gown with a white hood and blouse. "What is it?" she said in both an athouritive and threatening voice.

The messengers eyed widened, and he decided to quickly get to the point: "Well you see Ms. Mordio, the mage council-"

"Have they finally decided to let me fix up my shack?" she interrupted in bored, uninterested voice.

"Um, no." the young messenger continued. "They discovered a new type of blastia."

Immediately Mordio straightened up, excitement filling her eyes. "Really!? What kind? What does it do? Can it-"

"I think," the messenger interrupted, "it would be better if the council filled you in. They want you to help in the research for it because of your experience with blastia."

Suddenly Mordio turned serious. "Very well" she said "I'll be there in half an hour." She then proceeded to slam the door in the messengers face.

The Council Chamber was small, about the size of two medium sized kitchens put together. The council was made up of Arch-Mage Travern (the highest ranking mage in Aspio) and four other mages Rita didn't really care to know about. The council was sitting in chairs forming a half circle around the room. In the center of the room Rita, still dressed in her robes, stood in front of the council.

"Rita Mordio" Travern began "we have discovered a new type of blastia, what it does is unknown as we cannot activate the blastia. However we are certain it is a blastia as there is a very faint field of aer around it. Marcus bring it out."

Rita heard a door open behind her and a man came up to her, handing her a softball sized stone. Rita took it, and immediately felt the small aer field Travern was talking about. Examining the stone, Rita noticed small symbols on the stone, but they did not match the symbols that were often found in the ruins blastia were often located in.

"These symbols" Rita began "I've never seen them before. Where did you find this?"

Travern responded: "A boy found it near Zaphias, and when he started to look for more, he found the entrance to an old ruin from a civilization not yet discovered by us." Traverns personality then changed to that of enthusiasm "And you get to explore the ruins. With a few conditions of course."

"Name it." Rita said enthusiastically, examining the blastia in her hands.

"Well" Travern said hesitantly, which indicated to Rita it was going to be something she wouldn't like. "Obviously new ruins mean new monsters, and the ones we've discovered have already had some pretty nasty monsters; so for your protection we hired some… help."

This infuriated Rita, and she cried out "You hired knights!? I don't need knights to protect me I have my spells!"

"True" Travern said, sounding slightly annoyed "but your spells take time to cast and they can be interrupted, which calls for the need of help. And…well, your protection isn't exactly knights. You see, if the empire discovers our actions, they'll want to control us and tell us what to do. So, you and twelve guild members will go into the ruins and grab all the blastia you can and make your way back to Aspio"

"Wait" Rita said quietly; dread filling her voice "what do you mean '_guild_ members'?"

"Mordio, it is time for you to get your things ready for the trip so I'll get to the point: You and twelve members of the guild _Forlorn Halberd _will go to the ruins and grab as many blastia as you can! Dismissed!"


	2. The Search Team

The Search Team

Aspio Research Team Number 6

PERSONAL JOURNAL: Michael Staples

Entry 1: Since the discovery of the new blastia, almost every research team in Aspio has been mobilized to this one ruin. Travern says this mass mobilization is so we can learn everything about the blastia as soon as possible, but our team leader Rena thinks otherwise. We've been secretly sent ahead of Mordio's Research Team to cover something up, but what it is we're covering up is not yet clear.

Entry 2: We've descended into the ruins, and it's much bigger than we originally predicted. Rena guesses it runs under the entire capital! Rena made sure we packed lightly, bringing only food, water, and our Bodai Blastia. Honestly, the ruin is rather unspectacular. The only thing of interest is the oversized ventilation shafts that run through the entire complex; the vents are so large, I could fit inside one with my backpack on! Cathy believes they aren't really vents but 'tunnels' for something that may have lived in the ruins long ago. I agree with this theory, but Rena said we shouldn't jump to conclusions without any proof.

Entry 3: Our team of 5: Me, Cathy, Thomas, Able, and Rena; have hiked at least four miles into the old ruin and made the discovery of the century! Bones! A skeleton to be exact! The skeleton is actually quite terrifying. Its skull is human sized, but its canine teeth are about the size of my hand, it bottom jaw split in the center. Its legs looked human also, but rather than being bipedal the legs seemed _fused_ together, its feet were fused together at their soles, and the toe bones seemed to have grown a full two inches while this 'person' was alive, forming ten small super-sharp spikes. Rena guesses it's some kind of extinct animal, but I and the rest of the team think it looks to human to be animal….

Entry 4: Thomas is missing! He and I had gone to the bathroom, and he just disappeared! I was right next to him and he just vanished! I reported this to Rena, and she guessed he just upped and left. I doubt that however, I've know Thomas for a long time and knew he wouldn't abandon the team… but given the skeletons we've seen here I hope that is the case.

Entry 5: Its been nine days since we've gone underground, and I'm not feeling so well. I've started see and here things. I notice as I write this that my gramar is degrading. I don't know what this means but i am worried.

Entry 6: Though i saw thomas he was diformed and looked like skeleton we found earlier.

Entry 7: Rena making me mad. Telling me what to do… angry. Kill rena? Yes kill rena. Problems gone.

3nty 9: Killed rena…. Others ran… don't understand I free them from her. Thomas here Thomas here! Friends aga-


	3. Forlorn Halberd

Forlorn Halberd

Rita looked at the twelve Forlorn Halberd guild members in front of her. In all honesty, Rita was intimidated by them. They were all wearing knight armor (which Rita imagined they stole), minus the helmet, and had painted the armor blood red. Rita put on her brave face and approached their leader, whose armor was painted a dark blue to symbolize his rank.

"State your name!" Rita barked at the armored man. The man looked at her, scratched his head, and casually said "Names Tyler. Last names none of your concern. And stop looking at me like a scared little girl, from what I see" he looked her up and down and smiled "I'm only a year older than you."

Rita turned red (in anger and embarrassment) and yelled "DON'T YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" She then proceeded to slap him across the face. Tyler fell back, groaning and laughing. "Ah, alright alright sorry." He said rubbing his face. "Anyway, we're here to escort you to the ruins. It'll be a long trip but-"

"Stop talking." Rita said, annoyed. "Let's just get going; the longer we wait here the longer it's going to take us to get to the blastia."

Tyler made a face of embarrassment, obviously from being ordered around in front of his guild, and said: "Very well, we'll leave immediately."

They'd been hiking for two days straight, Rita and six other Halberds were on horse back resting while Tyler and the other six were walking. So far the trip had gone smoothly, Tyler hadn't seen any signs of bandits or monsters, but that didn't mean he could let his guard down. Bored, Tyler took the armored glove on his right arm and looked at his wrist, looking at the thumb nail sized sigil stone that had been planted in his wrist when he was born.

The Mages in Aspio knew about the sigil stones, but since they didn't know how to work it they kept it secret. Unlike Blastia, sigil stones use a power called magika, which is the physical 'force' of the human body. With the sigil stone, Tyler could move object with his mind (along with a couple of other powers) but not without its consequences. Basically, if Tyler wanted to move a chair, he could. But moving said chair would make him feel like he had picked up the chair and moved it to where he wanted it to be.

Additionally, the stone allowed him to use a limited amount of artes, healing and offensive alike. The stone wasn't meant for arte use however, so any arte he did use was just enough to kill (or heal) a human… or piss off something really big. Either way, the stone was useful, and while its arte capabilities were limited its natural abilities were far more powerful.

Slipping his glove back on, Tyler walked over to Rita's horse and shook her shoulder gently until she woke up. "Ma'am" he said in a gentle voice. During the trip, Rita had stressed the point that the Halberds were to call her 'ma'am'. "We're about ten minutes from the ruins; I just thought you would want to be awake when we got there."

Rita yawned, and then hopped off her horse. She looked at him with her weary green eyes, and with that Tyler saw who she really was. She wasn't the hard-ass mage she made herself out to be-well she was to people she didn't know- but when he looked into her eyes, when she was tired and her defenses were down… he saw the kindness that really filled her heart.

"Thanks. Were there any problems while I was asleep?" she asked, her back-the-hell-off personality back.

"If there was you would've known." Tyler said with a smile on his face.

Rita looked at him with a half smile, and Tyler guessed the lame joke he said made her hate him a little less. Tyler and Rita were at the lead, so they were the first ones to see the not-so-spectacular entrance to the ruin (it was just a hole in the ground). As they descended down the hill to the ruin, an arrow flew out from a tree and just narrowly missed Tyler's head.

"AMBUSH!" Tyler yelled, unsheathing his sword.


	4. Hells Scythe

Hells Scythe

Dodging the arrow, Tyler guessed where the arrow had come from and fired a small fireball from his Sigil Hand. The fireball seemed to explode in mid- air, but was greeted by a pained groan.

_Light Sigils_. Tyler thought to himself. The Light Sigils had the ability to bend the light around its user, making the soldier almost totally invisible but consequently creating a slight shimmer effect in the air, giving the user away. Only one enemy of the Halberds had Sigils, and that enemy was Hells Scythe, a rebel group that had broken away from Forlorn Halberd years ago. Hells Scythe wouldn't have been much of a threat to the Halberds, but before they broke away they were able to steel a substantial amount of Sigil Stones from the Oasis.

Pushing it the thought out of his mind, Tyler dedicated all of his focus to the battle at hand.

After the first arrow had almost killed Tyler, Rita had retreated to the back of the group. It wasn't that she was afraid, but her spells took time to use (unlike Tyler's, who fired them at will. Rita had to remember to ask him about that). Charging up a fireball, Rita realized mid-spell that she didn't know where her target was. Then suddenly a man in a skin-tight jet black suit that covered his entire body and gave him the appearance of a shadow materialized out of no where. At first Rita didn't see the sword in his hand, but as he raised it she knew her time had come.

But as soon as the man started to bring his sword down, he froze. Rita could hear him grunting with effort, but those grunt turned into worried cries of fear as he was actually _lifted_ off the ground by an unseen force. The man dropped his sword and brought his hands to his stomach where a small red ring had appeared. The mans hands were quickly forced away from his stomach, and Rita that she could actually see _through_ the ring, which was actually a hole!

The soldier started to scream, as the ring quickly expanded and burned away his entire body, not even leaving ashes. As the body disappeared, Rita could see Tyler in the distance, his hand focused in her direction. Putting two and two together, Rita realized HE had killed the soldier. Rita jumped, frightened by a armored hand she suddenly felt on her soldier. Turning, she saw a female Halberd dressed in their standard red armor. She had shoulder length black hair, pale skin (that all Halberds seemed to have) and brown eyes. In her hand was a three foot long broad sword that she seemed to carry as if it were a feather. If Rita remembered right, the other Halberds had called her Lizaida or Liz for short.

"Ma'am! We need to get you out of here!" she told Rita "Tyler and the others can handle them!" Getting to her feet, Rita ran behind Liz to the woods to hide.

Tyler pushed his sword through a Scythe soldier up to the hilt, and then punched the soldier in the face hard enough to free his sword. Turning, he saw one of his soldiers on the ground, a Scythe standing over him with his sword poised for the kill. Between him and his fellow Halberd, however, were three other Scythes.

_So it's time._ Tyler thought to himself. Concentrating on his Sigil Stone, Tyler put all of his energy into his stone, and got ready to use a skill unique to his stone only.

High above the battle, perched on a tree branch thirty feet off the ground, was an eighteen-year-old man with black skin, and a crimson scar across his neck. He was clad in a black cloak and armor-plated pants. Strapped to each of his arms was a foot long wrist blade, and on his back was a two foot long scimitar. But of all his weapons, the Sigil Stone attached to his wrist was the strongest of them all.

His name was Yves, and he was the leader of Hells Scythe. Twenty years ago his father had led the "Scythe Revolt" as the Halberds called it, and formed Hells Scythe. Yves' father had passed away a few years back, and had given the rank of leader to him.

Yves' attention was intently focused on the young blue armored leader of the small Halberd caravan. The boy was clearly focusing his energy on his Sigil, and Yves wanted to see what would happen.

A bright light flashed off the boy, causing Yves to blink for just a moment. When he opened his eyes again, the boy was gone, and the three Scythes that had stood ready to fight him were dead. One of the soldiers had been decapitated, another had his throat cut, and the last was still alive; his stomach cut open and his entrails in his hands.

Quickly, Yves saw in his peripherals a Scythe who was about to kill a fallen Halberd get his arms cut off then stabbed in the stomach, killing him. Yves soon realized that from the moment the Halberd leader had vanished, to when the Scythe had his arms cut off only two or three seconds had passed.

As the last Scythe fell to the ground, the Halberd leader appeared next to the down Halberd soldier, offering his hand.

Yves was struck with a sudden fear. "So that's him" he stated quietly to himself. Jumping off his thirty foot perch, Yves landed on the ground without any injury and hurried to the ruins entrance about twenty yards off. The battle had bought the Scythes time, but the Marker would take time to move.

"This is where it begins" Yves laughed to himself.


	5. Down Time

Down Time

The sun was setting over the forest, giving the sky a romantic red-orange color, and a gentle breeze ran through the trees. With the wind and the lighting combined, the shadow gave the earth the appearance of a lake, its waves moving serenely under the Halberds feet.

Tyler was exhausted. Using his Sigil to kill the man near Rita as well as make him move twenty times faster than any one else took up a lot of his magika. The other Halberds were tired too (luckily there were no Halberd Casualties), so Tyler decided to set up camp before descending into the ruins. Of course Rita objected, but Tyler convinced her that camping was a better idea than going into the ruins exhausted.

The sun had just gone down, and the Halberds just got done setting up the last tent. Rita sat on a fallen log, trying not to think about the blood bath she had witnessed earlier. She wasn't unaccustomed to battle, she had been in a few herself, but those battles used artes. The worst she had ever seen were burns or frost bite, not decapitations, eye gouging (she had witnessed Liz do it to a Scythe who tried to ambush them), and stomachs being slashed open.

Rita hadn't done this in a while, not for five years to be exact, but remembering the dying screams of men and the blood on the trees and grass, Rita cried.

Tyler and Lizaida finished putting up the hammers and extra stakes they had from making camp. "Man" Liz said wearily "I can't wait to have some of Mike's steak. It'd be nice to have a hot meal after that battle."

When no reply came, Liz looked over at Tyler and noticed him looking the opposite direction. Following his gaze, she noticed he was staring at Rita (or 'The Little Mage Bitch' as Liz preferred to call her).

Rita was crying, and judging from the look on Tyler's face, he felt bad for her.

"C'mon" Liz said to her younger leader (he was 14 and she was 18) "Lets go get some grub".

Tyler looked at Liz, then back at Rita. "You think she's all right?" Tyler asked in a soft voice.

Liz was shocked to hear her Leader talk like that. Normally he never showed sympathy on a mission, he would just tell whoever was hurt or crying to "Get over it" or "Shit happens". Then an idea struck Liz, and a big grin settled across her face.

"What's wrong boss?" She said in a sing-song voice "have a soft spot for the little mage bit- girl?"

Tyler instantly looked at her, his face a bright red "What!? NO! I just want to make sure she's all right is all! I want to make sure our client is comfortable-"

"You made other clients sleep in the dirt while the Halberds slept in cots" Liz interrupted "Why suddenly so caring toward customer service?"

Tyler's face brightened to the point it almost matched the orange sky. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it, looking back in Rita's direction.

"Go get some food." Tyler said to her, all calmness back in his voice. "I'll catch up."

Liz stood, saluted, and started toward the campfire the Halberds had made. She then turned back and said "I'll tell the troops that if the tents a 'rocking don't come a 'knockin!"

Tyler gave her a glare, and Liz merely laughed to herself and ran toward the fire.

Rita had her face in her hands crying, when she felt a hand grip her shoulder. Looking up, Rita saw Tyler (who was now wearing sack-cloth pants and a shirt) looking at her with a small smile.

"Hey" he said gently "You alright?"

She nodded, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hands, when she noticed Tyler had taken a seat next to her.

She looked at him, touched by the show of concern, but tried not to let it show. She must not have done such a good job, because when Tyler met her gaze he smiled and asked "What? Haven't you ever had someone be worried about you?" His voice was kind and sweet, but Rita tried avoiding the question by asking him one.

"How can the Halberds be so laid back right now?" She asked trying to sound observant "I don't see any guards, how can we be safe if Hells Scythe attacks again?"

Tyler's eyes widened, probably from surprise at Rita's tactical thinking, and said: "Hells Scythe and the Halberds have something of a truce, ironically a truce that involves battles." He continued saying "If Scythes battle Halberds, or vice-versa, and the Scythes win, the Halberds MUST allow a twenty-four hour 'resting' period. The same goes for the Scythes if the Halberds win"

Rita could tell she must have looked puzzled, because Tyler quickly informed her that the truce was a 'matter of honor' and was not guaranteed, however most guild members followed it.

Still not satisfied, Rita looked at the ground and said: "So there is still a chance we'll be attacked tonight."

Tyler never took his eyes off of her, and said in a comforting voice: "Yea, but like I said, it's very unlikely."

Then, for the first time, he looked away from her. She could tell he was picking his next words carefully, but was surprised by what he actually said.

"If you still don't feel safe" he started, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice. "I can move your cot into my tent and you can spend the night with me."

The offer took Rita by surprise, and then she thought to herself: _Does he like me? No, what would a guild leader want with a mage girl? He's just worried about my safety, because if I don't come back he doesn't get paid._

She tried to keep herself from blushing, but must not have done a good job since Tyler quickly (and still rather nervously) said: "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Rita, still looking at the ground, said: "I'll be fine thank you very much!"

She meant the statement to be hard and athouritive, but instead came out shy and weak.

Tyler smiled, and stood up. "Well dinner's already served. I'll get you a plate."

Tyler walked off, and Rita still sat blushing, thinking about the offer he made her.

Dinner had been quick, Mike had made steak and corn, and everyone drank water. Tyler was in his tent now, which was made of burlap and was big enough to fit five people plus their cots. He had lain down, and within seconds was asleep.

Tyler heard a rustle outside his tent that made him wake up. Reaching for a dagger under his pillow, he stood and went to the tents entrance. Once there, he peeked outside the opening and saw a figure struggling to move something large and rectangular. Once his eyes adjusted, Tyler saw clearly that the figure was Rita, trying to move her cot.

Smiling and putting his dagger back under his pillow, Tyler went outside to help her.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked her from his tent (she was still about ten feet from him). When she didn't answer, Tyler made his way over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. As soon as he touched her, she looked up at him, and Tyler froze.

Her normally green eyes were now a pale gray, matching her new skin tone. Her jaw had been ripped out, showing she now had what seemed to be feelers coming out of her throat and exposing her teeth, which were now sharpened; her canine teeth were about the size of his hand.

Shocked, Tyler stumbled back, and then realized that she wasn't holding a cot, but a coffin marked "Ishra".

Running to his tent to get his dagger, Ri- the _thing_ (Tyler refused to call the monstrosity Rita) screamed. The scream pierced Tyler's ears, making them bleed as his eardrums busted.

Looking behind him, he saw the thing running after him, still screaming. Tyler got ready to fight the creature head-to-head, but felt a sharp pain through his stomach. Looking down, he saw that the monster had somehow gotten close to him, and stabbed him with a hidden weapon. Looking into the creatures' eyes, he saw hatred, confusion, sadness, and hunger, all at the same time.

In his peripherals, Tyler saw the creature raise its hand. Looking at it, Tyler saw the actual _bone_ of the monster erupt from its palm, forming an almost spear-like shape.

The monster screamed one last time with victory then brought its hand down on Tyler's shoulder.

The shock of dying finally caused Tyler to wake up from his nightmare.


	6. The Descent

The Descent

After his dream, Tyler hadn't been able to sleep. He was still haunted by the nightmarish Rita, and her demonic scream. He decided he wouldn't act any different around Rita or his troops; he needed to keep a front of confidence, especially when they went into the ruins.

Morning had come about an hour ago, and the Halberds were armored up and ready to go. Rita wanted to go into the ruins ASAP, and the Halberds were happy to oblige. After yesterday's victory, the Halberds were ready to go into the ruins and fight the good fight!

"Alright Halberds listen up!" Tyler said when everyone had gathered at the entrance, Rita was at his side. "We may have won yesterdays battle, but don't get cocky! The Scythes have been down there for a while now, and they probably set up more traps and ambushes. So stay on your toes."

"COWARDS!" a Halberd from the crowd yelled. Tyler sighed and was immediately frustrated, he recognized that voice. It belonged to the new guy, John "Hawk" Blood. Hawk was a good fighter, but he was always over confident and looking for trouble. Hawk was older than Tyler, but for the love of God, Hawk was as stupid as it gets when it came to common sense.

Tyler nodded his head, then continued "Everyone stick with your partner. Our main objective is to find the new blastia, but our immediate goal is to protect Ms. Mordio. Under no circumstances should she be harmed. Understood?"

"SIR YES SIR!" The Halberds responded.

Tyler turned on a heel, and with that the Halberds entered the ruins.

They had been walking down a straight path for hours, and they hadn't seen a Scythe, monster, or even a roach the whole way. Rita walked by Tyler's side, looking around at the walls.

"So what exactly does this blastia do?" Tyler asked, looking to break the silence.

"I honestly have no idea." Rita said flatly.

Tyler was going to push for more information, but was interrupted when a Halberd called to him from behind.

"Hey Boss! Found something!" Mike (the chef) yelled at him.

Tyler turned, and took the item Mike had found.

The item was a journal, it was stone gray (it practically looked like a rock), and Tyler was surprised Mike had even seen it. Opening its pages, he sat down so Rita could look over his shoulder.

"Aspio Research Team?" Rita asked.

Tyler looked at her "Know anything about this?"

When Rita shook her head, Tyler started reading.

The writing was fine and elegant, it told of the research teams objectives and all that, but what caught Tyler's attention was the last page. The writing was barely legible, and was more like scribble compared to the beginning of the journal. Words were misspelled, and the grammar was far from elegant. But the thing that REALLY caught Tyler's attention was the blood splatter on the page.

"What do you think happened to them?" Rita asked, worry filling her voice.

"Nothing I'm sure." Tyler said comfortingly "I'm sure he might of just-"

Tyler was interrupted by another voice, this one deep but shrill, just the sound of it made Tyler shiver. The voice seemed to be coming from all around him, as it said:

"_**FOOL! Lie to her to protect her? Her fate is sealed just like the others… kill her now and save her the pain.**_"

Tyler stood, drawing his sword and looking around the room.

"Who said that!?" he yelled, receiving confused looks from the Halberds.

As he finished his sentence however, he heard a grinding sound, like stone grinding against stone.

"What the hell…?" Liz said, standing up and drawing her sword.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, it sounded almost like an explosion, and the way the ruins shook Tyler thought that's what it was.

Looking around, Tyler and the other Halberds didn't see anything suspicious. Maybe it nothing? Maybe it was just-

"OH SHIT!" Hawk yelled.

Looking in Hawks direction, Tyler saw the Halberds running past him, and he soon knew why: The ceiling was collapsing!

AUTHORS NOTE: _Reviews are appreciated!_


	7. Goddess of Anatomy

AUTHORS NOTE: _All I have to say is that anonymous people can now review! SO REVIEW PLEASE! ^_^_

Goddess of Anatomy

_The ceilings falling too fast! _Tyler thought to himself. He had noticed that the ceiling was falling in segments, creating small rooms between the cave-ins. So even in the event that the ceiling did not crush his friends, they would still be separated. Tyler decided it would be best to go fast, and started to charge up his Sigil.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, SSHHIIITTT!" Rita yelled as a stone nearly missed her head. The ceiling was catching up to them, but Rita did NOT plan on becoming a stain in the floor. She tried her best to run fast, but her reserves were quickly depleting… she was going to die!

As soon as she thought this however, Tyler came from behind (she was so scared she was running faster than the Halberds) and picked her up bridal style.

"Idiot!" she screamed at him. "I'll only slow you-" Rita was cut short by a light feeling in her stomach. Looking around, she noticed the Halberds were running slower. She was about to tell them to run faster, when she noticed that even the ceiling was moving slower. Looking at Tyler, she gasped.

His eyes were pure white; a small red dot in each eye represented his pupil. His skin was normal, but patches of black scales were scattered on his face and she was certain there was more under his armor. His teeth also became serrated, and they resembled that of a shark. Inside his mouth she could see a long, forked tongue.

But in a flash it was over. She was on the other side of the tunnel, and was safe from the collapsing ceiling (the ceiling there was solid rock). Tyler was gone, but in the blink of an eye Liz was there, and then Mike!

_Is he teleporting?_ Rita mused.

Soon all the Halberds were there, except Hawk, who had been separated by the collapsing ceiling.

"Well… that… wasn't… that bad" Tyler panted, and then collapsed to the ground.

"Tyler!" Rita yelled, rushing to his side.

Liz walked over, and crouched beside him.

"Is he going to be OK?" Rita asked, on the verge of tears.

Liz put her index and middle fingers to his neck, and then nodded.

"He'll be fine" she said in a care free voice "He just overused his Sigil, so we're lucky he just fainted. One more trip would've killed him."

"What about Hawk?" A messy-haired Halberd named Phil asked "We're going to have to look for him."

"That'll come later" Rita said in the most athouritive voice she could muster. "Tyler's health comes first."

The Halberds gave her a dirty look, obviously not liking her giving orders, but seemed to like the idea of waiting for Tyler to recover.

"Fine" Liz said casually. "We'll wait two hours, and if he's not awake by then we'll carry him."

Yves looked at the woman. She had long, black hair down to top of her butt; and beautiful but intimidating scarlet eyes. Her skin was a milky white, and she wore a long blue and gold silk dress. She had the appearance of a teenager, but Yves knew that she couldn't be less than a thousand years old. Her body frame was skinny, but she didn't look unhealthy.

While the outside was beautiful and serene, Yves knew that her looks were deceiving to the power she had; otherwise he wouldn't have brought four armed guards.

"And give me one good reason I should help you." She said in a smooth, almost seductive voice.

Yves cleared his throat, and tried to keep his fear from showing.

"Lady Ishra" he began "our cause is just and our armies are strong; but with your power we can be unstoppable. We can give you jewels, power, land! Whatever it is you desire will be yours if you only help us!"

Ishra sat on one of the many grave stones that filled the room, and made a face as if considering the offer; but then smiled mischievously and a glow appeared in her scarlet eyes.

Then he heard his guards scream. Looking at his men, he saw that one was clawing out his eyes, screaming: "I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYMORE! STOP IT!"

Another one of his guards was stabbing himself in the chest, sobbing; while the last two were pushing their thumbs into each others eyes, yelling "KILL IT! KILL IT!"

Yves rushed to pull the two off each other, but as soon as he made an effort the front of their torsos exploded out, covering everything in blood and guts.

Yves was shocked by what he just saw, and turned to see Ishra laughing like a school girl and clapping her hands, noticing no blood on her.

"Good show! Good show!" She said between laughs. "I never imagined it would be THAT entertaining!"

Anger built up in Yves, but he held his tongue when he remembered who he was talking to.

"Lady Ishra" he said in a monotone voice "what will I have to do to get you on our side?"

Ishra stopped laughing and put on a serious face.

"Well…." She puckered her lips. "When the gods were still around I had a husband named Stryzak, he was the God of Shadows."

Not wanting to anger her, Yves listened intently.

"But unfortunately before he and I could conceive the humans revolted. I could have stopped them, but my father had taken away my ability to create and destroy life."

She paused when Yves made a confused face, and waved a hand at him.

"Oh don't get me wrong" she continued "I could still kill, but I couldn't destroy a species."

Her face became sad. And she said in a lowered voice: "The Humans actually overwhelmed the gods with tools they called Blastia. We didn't stand a chance against them. In the end they killed every God and Goddess but me; saying that for creating them they wouldn't kill me, but would instead imprison me."

She looked around to indicate the ruins were her prison, and then went on to say: "When all the Divinity died, their spirits combined into a stone far more powerful than Blastia. Wanting to forget the gods, humans merely threw the stone aside without ever discovering its power… that is until some hundred years ago."

She looked at Yves' wrist, and he was overcome with surprise.

"Y-you mean…?" he stammered.

"That's right!" Ishra said, the playfulness back in her voice "The Sigil stones you use are Divine spirits!"

Yves was shocked by the revelation, but quickly got back on track.

"But my Lady, what does this have to do with coming to our side?"

Ishra scoffed and made a face as though annoyed, and said: "I've been trapped in here for eight thousand years! I haven't seen anyone during that entire time! Even goddess' have needs!"

Yves blushed when he realized what she was talking about, but again she only scoffed.

"Don't flatter yourself" she said threateningly "I don't mess with mortals who fight for glory and land. Especially not weak ones."

She put her chin in her hand a said in a dreaming voice "I want someone with natural power, that's doesn't rely on Sigil stones."

Yves winced, he knew of only one person with natural power… and he was a Halberd.


	8. Another Problem

Another Problem

Rita sat with Tyler's head in her lap, running a hand over his shaved head. She looked at him, confused by the feelings she had. She decided that she would accept the feelings as a sign of worry and nothing else. Most of the Halberds had fallen accept, leaving Rita, Liz, and Mike on guard duty.

An hour and a half had passed, which means it was almost time to get moving. Rita was about to shake Tyler to wake him, but as soon as she touched his shoulder his eyes began to move, and she could hear him groan. Setting his head on the floor, she sat next to him so her face was hovering over his (although it was a good distance above his).

His eyes fluttered open, and he said: "Damn… I died."

Rita, excited he was alright, quickly replied: "No! You're alive Tyler! You saved us!"

A small smile appeared on his lips, and he continued in a soft voice: "If I'm a live explain the angel I'm seeing."

Rita blushed and looked to the floor, and Tyler was surprised his cheesy line had any effect on her at all.

Tyler stood, and yelled at the top of his lungs: "HALBERDS! ATTEN-SHUN!"

Almost immediately all of the Halberds were awake, scrambling and tripping over one another to get to attention. Lizaida, who was next to him, snapped a crisp salute and replied: "Halberds ready for combat sir!"

"Good." Tyler said, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Halberds! I want everyone ready to go in two minutes! We have an objective, and a missing Halberd we need to find so hurry your asses up!"

Hawk was running as fast as he could, the gentle hum of his charging Sigil and the screeches of his pursuers ringing in his ears. Hawk normally never ran from a fight, but losing his sword and being outnumbered can change a mans ways in a heartbeat.

He had been in a full sprint for two minutes, and although his legs were burning and his chest was on fire, he wouldn't let himself stop. Risking a glance back, he saw about five of the things chasing him, their arms in the air; the wicked 'blades' that seemed to grow from their palms created menacing shadows on the floor.

Hawk stopped, turned, and fired his fully charged sigil at the crowd of monsters. Immediately a barrage of icicles materialized in the chamber and pierced through the creatures flesh like butter, sometimes even ripping off limbs.

The barrage lasted about half a second, and in that time all of the monsters had dropped.

Excited for winning (and definitely being alive) Hawk jumped in the air was about to let out a victory whoop, when a sharp pain erupted from his stomach.

Stunned by the pain, Hawk readied himself for the impact of hitting the floor, but realized it never came. Looking at his stomach he saw what appeared to be to feet merged at the sole sticking through his stomach, the toe bones elongated and fused to form a sharp spike.

Looking up, Hawk saw the horrid face of his attacker.

It was, in a word, horrifying. The creature was clearly once human, but now its legs were fused together to form a weapon, and its jaw was split at the bottom. The monster opened its mouth, and the bottom part of its jaw unfolded from _inside_ the mouth, making it long enough to wrap around his throat.

Pulling its tail from him, Hawk fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Looking around him for anything he could use, he caught motion in his peripheral vision. Looking to his right, he saw the creatures that had chased him originally were starting to move! Some got up, blood and guts pouring from the wounds he had created; while most crawled at him with their arms because of their missing legs.

The creature that had stabbed him shrieked, went to the ground, and then lunged at him.

"So how long was I out?" Tyler asked Rita, looking to start conversation.

"About two hours" Rita said in a much kinder voice than before.

A disappointed look appeared on Tyler's face, and he said sadly: "Hmph, that was sloppy of me; we had a mission to do and I fell asleep on the job. Can you ever forgive me Ms. Mordio?"

Rita looked at him with a smile, "Well you did save our lives, I think you deserve the rest!"

Tyler smiled and was about to counter with a wise-ass remark, but Rita interrupted his thoughts by saying "Although the time we lost will be deducted from your pay check!"

At first he thought she was serious, but considering the way she said it and the smile on her face he knew she was joking.

Now it was his turn to joke: "Well maybe next time I'll just save my guild the money and-"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!"

Drawing his sword and charging his Sigil, Tyler could hear the Halberds behind him do the same.

"Was that Hawk!?" Liz asked as she ran up beside him, fear and worry in her voice.

Tyler replied quickly, "Sounded like it. Halberds lets move! Mike, Liz! You stay with Rita in the back!"

Running towards the screaming, Tyler could hear animalistic growls and the crunching of bones adding to the horrible echoes of the tunnel.

Turning a corner, Tyler froze, and so did all the Halberds behind him.

In front of him was Hawk, who had stopped screaming, and about six monsters he had never seen before but couldn't help but think he had. Hawks entire torso was ripped open, a monster with fused legs chewing on his stomach.

Behind him Tyler could hear someone vomit, but that didn't bother him; he remembered where he'd seen the monsters before.

If the Halberds religious text was correct, the monsters they were about to fight were called Necromorphs.

_**Authors note: **_Well now we have some dead space in here! Woot! Lol, anyways I decided that since I don't normally check my e-mail I'd give you my XBOX LIVE gamertag! It's: Grubbug45zoo … so add me and get to know the author of your favorite story!!


	9. Possession

VOICE OVER= "_Italicized and underlined print in quotations"_

Possession

Sitting in a comfy arm chair and looking out her bedroom window, Estelle watched the people of Zaphias as they walked among the city streets, talking to friends, sitting in benches, and some were even trading. Estelle jumped when her daydreaming was interrupted by a knock at her door.

"Come in!" she said in a meek voice.

Her door opened, and an armored knight stepped into her room. The knight was pushing a cart that contained her dinner of the finest fish and vegetables, and below that was a shelf that contained about five books of various sizes.

The knight stopped the cart in front of her chair and quickly left the room, locking the door so she couldn't leave. Automatically reaching for the largest book, she brushed a lock of her pink hair from her face and studied the title.

"Religions of the Guilds" she read aloud. Interested, she opened the book and began to read.

Tyler, now angry instead of shocked, ordered all Halberds to fire their Sigils. Instantly, the entire tunnel in front of them lit ablaze with a white fire, setting the creatures, vegetation… and Hawk ablaze.

"_Chapter 1, Halberd Religion"_

In a matter of seconds the fire was gone, and everything in the tunnel was turned to ash. Tyler brought his trembling hand down and turned to his comrades, who were also trembling in fear and surprise.

He saw Rita in the back on her hands and knees, a pool of vomit in front of her. He walked to her and lifted her to her feet, and set her down on a fallen stone column.

"What were those things?" Rita asked, her voice completely devoid of emotion.

Tyler sat for a few seconds trying to recollect his religious teachings; then answered:

"They were Necromorphs. They are…"

"…_the servants of Ishra, the creator of mankind. They were made as human prototypes, but Ishra soon realized that they were animalistic and single –minded, so she turned them into her foot soldiers and replaced them in favor of humans. However, soon after the humans creation, the humans began to kill of the Necromorphs who were relentlessly destroying their settlements and eating their dead. _

"_Ishra, angered at the humans for destroying her precious pets, soon made the first 'Life Giver' of the Necromorphs. This Life Giver had the ability to turn dead (or sometimes even living) humans into Necromorphs or other Life Givers_

"_Ishra decided that this would be a fitting punishment, making it so the humans would have to kill their…"_

"…own Loved ones" Tyler finished.

Rita stared blankly at the floor, so shocked she couldn't even cry.

Then he heard it again, the same voice he heard before the roof started to collapse:

"_**You have destroyed Ishra's pets, and at the same time taken the lives of innocents. Perhaps I may have a use for you after all…."**_

Tyler ignored the voice, but then he began to have a headache, and as he brought his hand to his forehead, he saw his hand was covered in black scales.

Startled, he looked at his other hand and noticed that it too was covered in rough scales.

"_**NOW IT'S MY TURN!" **_


	10. Puppet

Puppet

"_**NOTHING MORE THAN MY PUPPET!"**_

With the voice screaming in his mind, Tyler realized he was slowly rising from the ground. Snarling and speaking a language he didn't know but somehow understood he turned to his teammates, and said: "_**MORTALS! See how your leader cannot resist me!"**_

Turning to him, Tyler saw the shocked expressions on his soldiers' faces; for some reason he could smell their fear… and it made him excited.

Liz, taking command, told the Halberds to attack.

Laughing manically, the voice said "_**Now I have reason… blame your soldiers for their own deaths I'm defending myself."**_

As his soldiers charged at him, Tyler could _feel _the voice pick and choose the people he was closest to.

Liz was shocked at the condition Tyler was in, but what it- _he_ had said didn't sound friendly. So naturally she ordered him killed.

Charging in with her sword drawn, she saw that Mike had reached him first and was bringing his blade down in an angle meant to decapitate Tyler.

But at the last minute Tyler grabbed mikes blade with a scaled left hand, and at the same time the scales on his right elongated and combined to form a wicked black blade. Crushing Mike's blade in his hands, Tyler brought his blade up and sliced through Mike's armor as if it were warm butter.

Stopping, Liz started to charge her Sigil for an attack she hoped would finish him off. But as Mike's lifeless body fell to the ground, she saw Tyler quickly disarm and kill another Halberd.

Another Halberd named Diz was able to sneak behind Tyler, but was seen and was now being held by the throat by the monstrous Tyler.

"_**Humans take heed!"**_ he said in a terrifying voice _**"Our time is at hand! And no mortal will stand between me and what I want!"**_

Taking the opportunity, Liz's Sigil was not fully charged, but powerful enough to blast down a wall. Aiming, she focused on Tyler.

"I'm sorry" she said aloud as goodbye to her childhood friend.

As she finished her sentence she fired.


	11. Betrayal?

Betrayal?

Liz led Rita and the two remaining Halberds down a set of stone stairs. Liz's armor and face was soaked Tyler's blood… the blood was crusting on her breastplate and caking her hair to her face. She hadn't sheathed her sword, and she hadn't looked back either. But from the footsteps, she could tell they had lost a Halberd or two on their escape.

Liz remembered Tyler changing into a… creature. He had killed his friends without mercy, and seemed to enjoy the slaughter. Left with no choice, Liz hit Tyler square in the chest with a fully charged Sigil blast, and blew off his breastplate and the front layer of his body, causing his ribs to show and his organs to pour out.

Even with all that, Tyler STILL charged at her, his blade-arm brought back for the kill. Liz would have died then and there if a fire ball hadn't taken off his head. Looking to her right, she could see Rita sobbing, her hands shaped like a cup to fire the blast. Liz would have comforted her, but the battle had attracted a horde of Necromorphs; they weren't there yet, but their howls and screeches were close.

Rita tripped and hit the ground. Liz and the other Halberds stopped, and rushed to her aid. "You okay?" Liz asked softly. She took the brief pause to listen for attackers. There was none.

"Yea" Rita sobbed.

"You did what you had to…." Liz tried comforting her. She sheathed her sword and helped Rita up.

"But why did she have to do it?!" Pep, their archer, asked.

"Don't know" Liz said flatly.

"What I do know is that we have nine Halberds dead, including our leader. We need to get to the surface."

"But how?" Sev asked while he was checking over his scoped crossbow. "The ceiling Caved in remember?"

Pep, now calmed down, countered "There has to be another way out. Maybe a small opening we can make larger."

The rest of them looked at Pep with disbelief. He chuckled, and replied "The only reason I think that is because we're still breathing. There has got to be some kind of ventilation-" he looked at the man sized hole in the wall. "that leads to the surface."

Liz, now in command, thought this over. "Fine." Liz said. "You think we can just crawl through the vents?" Liz wondered.

Pep went to the hole. "Maybe we can…." Before he could finish his sentence, a thick, meaty tentacle with three 'fingers' reached down and grabbed around Peps head.

He let out a muffled scream, and then was pulled into the vent.

Rita screamed, but Liz and Sev stared in calm terror.

"We need to move." Liz said, pulling Rita to her feet.


End file.
